Picked up this 1995 Saturn SL1 at the new year, 1/3/11, the day I let go of my 91 Nissan pickup. The previous owner and I basically traded vehicles (actually, sold each other's vehicles for around the same price). He needed a truck to haul stuff with and I needed a car with automatic for my son, which basically turned out to be a successful transaction from Craigslist. Seemed very even trade, as both cars needed similar problems addressed, though cosmetically I guess I got the better end of it but he's got a truck that's going to give him long years of service despite being a 91 if he takes good care of it as well as I did.What it needs immediately:1) Tires - basically bald with after market wheels. OEM wheels are 175/70/14 but these need 185/70/14's2) Interior - passenger cabin needs stains removed. Trunk compartment which had the spare tire was FULL of water! Hmmm... no leak anywhere, either they left the trunk open in a rainstorm or hurricane and they never drained it.3) Muffler needs patching. Surprisingly not rusty underneath but it did develop a rust hole in the muffler, which causes excessive vibration and smell of fumes at startup. At first I thought it was needing a new top engine mount (Torque Axis Mount, or TAM), but I checked it and it was fine (no rubber on the mount corroded or broken).Overall first impression, good clean car for its age and used car price range, decent mechanicals. That's it for now!1-22-11 Status update: After a rainstorm, found that there was a leak where water collected in the trunk, mainly in the spare tire well. Shop-vac'd the moisture out again and figuring out what to do next, referring to several Saturn owner forums. It was too cool for it to cure, but I couldn't wait and decided to apply the muffler/exhaust repair compound anyways. I didn't run the car knowing that even if I tried to heat up the muffler, it would've probably blown out the patches. So I'm going to wait a couple days for it to fully cure before heating it up by idling the engine. A helpful person at the Saturn forum told me that the excessive fumes at start up could be caused by a faulty or cracked ECTS (Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor), so I'll check that out next, along with the leaking issue at my next update.2-5-11 Status update: Had the front tires changed, actually had the good ones from front rotated to the back and bad back ones moved to front with "new" rubber. Opened up two knockouts in the spare tire well to serve as drain holes in leaking trunk for now, and the one hole on left corner with rubber grommet also acting as drain hole, which helps to drain and allow air to dry. That's it for now, rear tires next...3/19-3/20/11: Replaced both rear wheel cylinders, however, concerned I may have let the brake fluid in the master cylinder go down too low (pic is for reference only, not the actual one in my car).
